Orange Fabric Decisions

As a spring vacation is quickly approaching I have been staring at a piece of fabric that I purchased a while back. I have never really quite made a decision as to either make a skirt or dress out of the fabulous fabric. It is a gorgeous muted orange doodles fabric begging to be cut. :) I was inspired by both the fabric and one of Altuzarra's looks for Spring 2015.

Photo: Kim Weston Arnold / Indigitalimages.com

I decided that if I did a fashion illustration of both options I would be able to easily decide. Well I was wrong. Here is my fashion illustration that I did hoping to solve my dilemma.

I posted this illustration on my facebook page and got an overwhelming response of dress. Only problem was that I did not have enough fabric for the dress as I had hoped. I ended up making the skirt instead and I absolutely love it! I would have made a similar skirt to Altuzarra's pencil skirt with buttons but buttons are not my friend. So what do you guys think? Should I have made the dress? I'll post pictures of the finished skirt later this week.

If I really want an orange print dress, I could always cheat and get Motel's  high neck shift dress.

Custom Fashion Illustration of the Winner

I  hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Now I am sure everyone is gearing up for the Christmas Holidays. Lots of gift planning going on.

Last month I decided to do a little gift giving myself by doing a custom portrait fashion illustration of a lucky winner. That lucky winner was Stefunny! I contacted her and ask her to send a picture of herself in either the outfit she wanted illustrated or to send me links of items she wanted to be illustrated in. I was sent the following requests.

Moto jacket with fur

Chanel Handbag

Suede Platform Louboutin Boots

Leather pants

Gorgeous Stefunny

And here is my process:

Initial sketch

Watercolor paint added

6*8" custom illustration signed by me

I had so much fun doing this painting. Hope she is happy with the painting.  I must say that she has impeccable taste! I think I will be adding some of these things to my wish list as well! :)

If you are interested in gifting a custom fashion illustration you can go to the shop and order there. Once the illustration is done I can then design notecards (with their name), mugs, tote bag, pillow with the image on it.

Have fun hunting for those Christmas gifts and don't forget to support your artists! :) 

Learning to do Surface Design

Earlier this year I search the internet for videos to teach me how to use illustrator to create repeating patterns for surface design. I did not study graphic design in school and it has been something I have been interested in the past few years. I dabbled with adobe illustrator this year with a couple of fabric designs I have in Spoonflower but was incredibly frustrated that I lacked the skills. Last week Bonnie Christine who is a surface designer was on the Creativelive last week teaching everything see learned on her own to do repeat patterns. This is the class and it is well worth purchasing if you are interested in surface design.

photo credit: Creativelive.com

 So all this week I have taking that class and attempting to do my next fabric design on illustrator. It has been so much fun! I was so excited that this class was offered!
Here are some pics of me sketching out some ideas and dabbling in illustrator.

And to end the week off right I did another custom portrait of this fashionable couple who is recently engaged to be married.
 

Check out Creativelive they offer some really great classes.  Hope you all have had a great week! Enjoy the weekend!

A Peek into the Studio

Here is a peek into the studio this week. I'll start with showing off my self portrait. This is definitely one of the more difficult illustrations I did this week but I am pleased with it. I love the fact that I can can just imagine myself wearing the lastest fashion. I especially love the Valentino bag I snuck in there. Maybe one day..... :) I also went ahead and designed my own custom notecards.

This last illustration is of my first boss at Neiman Marcus. She is the ultimate personal shopper, Betty Lidji, at the flagship store in Dallas. Her customer service to her clients is top notch. I learned from the best! I know she will enjoy writing to her fabulous clients with her personalized notecards. :)

If you are interested in getting your own custom fashion watercolor portrait done visit the site. Once the portrait has been completed I can upload the notecard design in my zazzle shop. There you can order and reorder to your hearts desire. If you would want any other item with your portrait on it you can let me know and I can upload that to the shop.

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing what I have been working on this week in the studio.  Have a great weekend and be creative my friends!

Custom Watercolor Fashion Illustrations

I have been busy this week doing more custom watercolor fashion illustrations. I have had a great time doing these paintings on 8" by 8" paper. Here are a few that I have been working on.

 

 

If you are interested in having a custom fashion watercolor portrait done please visit the shop. Once the portrait is made I can design a notecard with your name on it similar to the one I made for this lovely little family.

Here are the ones I sent out this week.

Have a great week everyone and I will try to keep you guys updated on all the exciting things happening in the studio!

Perfect Hostess Gift

I have been a bit busy the past few weeks with family and have not been able to post any new projects. A week ago we stayed at our family's house in Los Angeles for a long weekend. On the way back I decided to create a custom watercolor notecard for our amazing hostess.

Here are the sketches and the final painting.

I then scanned the watercolor and created the notecard on photoshop. Put the order in for the notecards and now just waiting for them to ship. So excited to see how they look once they come in from the printers.

Wine Tasting in Napa

A couple of weeks ago I went to Napa for the first time. It was truly a magical experience.  The very first winery we stopped at had a group of girlfriends that were there for a bachlorette weekend. I really wish I would have captured the moment. They were all dolled up in their colorful maxi dress and the backdrop of the winery was stunning. I have had this image of them in my mind for the last couple of weeks and have been itching to sketch them.

So this week I decided to illustrate three girlfriends wine tasting in Napa. Here is my process....

 

And here is the finished illustration that I did with Prismacolor pencils and watercolors.

Wine Tasting in Napa by Ana Maria Sanchez

I included some of my jewelry in this fashion illustration such as the pyrite cluster earrings

Pyrite Cluster Earrings

the citrine necklace

Citrine Necklace

and then I was inspired by the blue dress on the girl on the right. I designed a sterling silver necklace with an abalone cross, freshwater pearls, iolite and pearlized chalcedony.

Abalone Cross Pearl Necklace

I also designed abalone cross earrings to go along with the necklace.

Abalone Cross Earrings

Girlfriends in this fashion illustration are outfitted in the following designers: 

Pyrite Cluster Earrings by Amaria Studio

Liliana Black Headpiece by gadegaarddesign

Leopard Print Backless Dress by cherryblossomsdress

Moonflower Maxi Dress by shelivesonlovest

Pink Yellow Turquoise Headband by bethanylorelle

Beaded Headband by Delightjewelry

Off Shoulder Dress by Cvetinka

Abalone Cross Necklace by Amaria Studio

Abalone Cross Earrings by Amaria Studio

                                           Go give some love to these amazing designers!

 If you loved the fashion illustration and would love to purchase a print, tote, mug, etc. go visit my shop.
If you would love to have a CUSTOM fashion illustration done please visit my listing.

Have a great weekend everyone!